Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

Here are some VERY interesting stats:

Recent statistics indicate that more and more often people are turning to the Internet — instead of the yellow pages — to find local businesses like yours that are close to home. Check out these stats from the Kelsey Group…

• 74% of households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally!
• Approximately 45% of people searching locally intended to buy!
• Respondents who used traditional Yellow Pages decreased from 75% to 62%

As a local business owner, it’s crucial to realize that the Internet is now — more than ever — an extremely important tool for attracting customers.

This issue is just one of those that we’ll be discussing at the Marketing Edge for Retailers site!

Keep watching. I hope/plan to go live in the next week…

I’ll announce it here and in the Groups.
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Jeffrey Gitomer is one of my favorite Sales Mavens. He sends out an Email Newsletter on Tuesdays that is well worth reading.

http://www.gitomer.com/index.cfm

Today he was talking about how the internet is affecting the sales process and discussing buying an automobile. The couple of points that I found were significant are:

*quote*

Because an automobile is so personal, most customers want to see it, touch it, and drive it before they purchase it.

*end quote*
Read the rest of this entry »

Here is an interesting tidbit offering a LOT of food for thought!

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/06/19/trend.fishing.ap/index.html

First off, who can NOT love the idea of Pink Waders and fishing equipment. Way back when, I was a union stagehand in IATSE. I spray painted ALL of my tools pink, and let me tell you… if any of the guys borrowed them, they were quick to return them! *VeryBigGrin*

But, ignoring everything else… this is the paragraph that most got my attrention:

*quote*

Outdoor marketers have found it makes good business sense to reach out to women, said Monica Pelletier, spokeswoman for the national Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation.

“The thinking used to be that the man is the one who goes fishing and he’s going to decide whether to take the family along, but really it’s the woman who decides where to take the family. She determines the activities,” Pelletier said.

*end quote*

The bold, italics are my own and sure give me something to think about! Are we in Needlework and Quilting giving ANY thought to this significant fact? Hmmmmm……

I have some specific ideas that I intend to share with my Gold member Retailers!

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There is an article today on CNN.com (the page my browser opens in!). It is in the Entertainment section and mentions that *It’s a Wonderful Life* led the American Film Institute’s list of inspirational films revealed Wednesday in the group’s annual top-100 TV special that aired on CBS.

Now, clearly, you’ll get NO argument from me about what a great movie it is! However, I did get a tingle… a marketing tingle…

The significant phrease for me was *the group’s annual top-100 TV special*

So here is the plan… (rubbing hands together, gleefully)

Choose one of your shop’s Hot Spots… put together a display of the Top 10 New Designs… This could be done just once a year… but my inclination is to do it monthly. Make it a regular feature of the shop… include Employee choices to maximize the branding potential.

If some of the designs are from new designers, include information about the designer… remember, Needlework and Quilting are personality driven industries! Use this to your advantage!

Scheming in KY,

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